Poland’s retail market continues to develop at a strong pace. Fashion retailers are showing the highest level of activity, according to CBRE’s report, “The Retail Market from the Tenant Perspective.” The home furnishings and food service sectors are also expanding, recording the strongest positive balance between openings and closures over the past year.
The number of stores in the home category increased by 85, the largest rise among all sectors analysed. The market also gained 72 food stores. CBRE experts point out that, despite the continued growth of e-commerce, physical retail still plays an important role in the industry. Its function is evolving towards more local, experience-driven formats.
“Traditional retail continues to hold a stable position, particularly in categories where direct contact with a product or service matters. For many brands, a physical store remains a key part of an omnichannel strategy — a place to build customer relationships, strengthen brand image and test new concepts. As a result, expansion decisions are now made more selectively, based on analysis of customer traffic, the surrounding retail environment and the potential of a specific location,” said Anna Wysocka, Head of Retail at CBRE.
CBRE data shows that fashion brands continue to demonstrate the greatest activity in terms of both store openings and closures. At the same time, the food and home furnishing segments delivered particularly strong results, recording the highest positive net balance over the past year.
The home category saw the largest increase in the number of stores, with 85 new locations opening — the best result among all industries analysed. The market also added 72 new food stores and 70 service outlets, while the restaurant and café offering expanded by 52 locations.
Growth was also recorded in the medical products, automotive and sports categories, confirming the growing importance of services and retail concepts supporting healthier lifestyles.
Global Brands Continue to Look at Poland
Despite ongoing market rotation, Poland remains an attractive destination for new brands. Around 30 new operators entered the market over the past year, including both international and domestic companies, returning brands and concepts moving from online-only sales into physical retail.
The new operators represent a wide range of sectors, from health and beauty and fashion to accessories, specialist food products and food service. The vast majority of brands begin their operations in shopping centres, although they are increasingly complementing this strategy with retail parks and high streets.
Tenants Are Increasingly Focusing on Local Locations
High streets, retail space within residential developments and office hubs are becoming increasingly important. Tenants are more often identifying these locations as a parallel direction for network expansion.
A presence on a high street is intended to bring brands closer to customers’ daily routes or directly into the areas where they live. Such locations offer strong visibility, direct contact with urban consumers and greater flexibility in creating distinctive, often flagship, concepts.
In Warsaw and other major cities, these locations are dominated by fashion, food service, beauty and wellness brands, medical services and showrooms. This supports the creation of a diverse and attractive retail offering.
The role of the physical store is also changing. It is increasingly becoming an experience-focused space. The growing importance of experiential retail concepts, events, food service and lifestyle-related activities is naturally strengthening the role of urban locations that fit into consumers’ everyday routines.
“Stable growth and the strong resilience of domestic demand translate into favourable prospects for Polish retail. According to Statistics Poland data, retail sales increased by 5 percent year on year, while Poland remains the largest consumer market in Central and Eastern Europe. This continues to attract tenants from the retail, food service and services sectors,” said Anna Wysocka of CBRE.
